an opinionated sports blog

December 12, 2008

I guess someone forgot to tell Pierre Thomas that you’re not supposed to be able to run against the Bears. I guess they just overlooked them because they hadn’t heard about him before. In fairness, I overlooked him too, starting Reggie Bush over Thomas as a runningback in one of my fantasy playoffs.

Green Bay (-2) over JACKSONVILLE
Two disappointing teams that don’t have anything left to play for. At least the Packers have a sense of pride while the Jags look like they’ve completely quit on their coach.

Detroit (+17) over INDIANAPOLIS
This is way too many points, even if it is the Lions playing on the road. What a shock it would be if Detroit could upset Peyton’s boys and derail the Colts off their charted wild-card course. That won’t happen but they can still keep the score within 17.

Washington (-6.5) over CINCINNATI
Against the Bengals, the Redskins will look like a team that should be sending nine starters to the Pro Bowl. I have no doubt that Washington can run over the lowly Bengals, especially only giving 6.5 points.

ATLANTA (-3) over Tampa Bay
I’m not budging on the “pick the NFC South home team to win” rule. It doesn’t fail too often. Do you think the Dolphins are kicking themselves for passing on Ryan as their QB of the future? It may come back to bite them in the end.

San Francisco (+6.5) over MIAMI
The Dolphins might be the hottest team in football right now but the Niners are playing with too much vigor on defence. Miami usually can’t pull away from anybody and the way that coach Singletary has San Fran fired up, they could pull an upset.

Seattle (-3) over ST. LOUIS
Oh wow, a battle for the cellar in the NFC West. I feel bad for anyone that has to watch this drivel. How sad is it when your team has a better chance of winning when the backup QB plays and it’s Seneca Wallace?

NEW YORK JETS (-8) over Buffalo
Well apparently the West Coast is the Jets cryptonite. That’s good news for Gotham residents since the Bills are coming to visit them and have only scored six points in the past two games combined. But, oddly, three weeks ago the Bills scored 54 on the road, then only 3 and 3 in two home games? That’s messed up.

Tennessee (-3) over HOUSTON
Well it looks like everyone is on the Texans bandwagon again and I really don’t see why. Isn’t Matt Schaub due for another injury about now? There’s no way the Texans hang with Titans, even if teams seem to have figured them out.

Pittsburgh (+2) over BALTIMORE
The Steelers are playing like a team of destiny. You can blame whoever you want from the Cowboys side for their loss last week, but it was the Steelers who played well enough to put them into that position to win it all. Whoever takes this game is destined to take the AFC North while the winner will duke it out for the wildcard and I think Pittsburgh has a slight edge.

CAROLINA (-7.5) over Denver
The Broncos have been so up and down that I have no idea how they’ll play on any given week. I do know, on the other hand, that the Panthers are an NFC South team playing at home. Carolina also has a big advantage when it comes to line-play. Their RB tandem should have a nice day.

San Diego (-5.5) over KANSAS CITY
You have to feel good for the fantasy playoffs if you have LaDainian Tomlinson going this weekend.Those weeks of suffering with sub-par numbers will surely turn around into a very clutch points-bonanza.

ARIZONA (-3) over Minnesota
The way that you beat either of these teams is to pass against their defence. The Cardinals do that better in spades over the Vikings, who may have to rely on the dreadful Tarvaris Jackson. Adrian Peterson will have to have a huge day to keep the Vikes close in this one.

New England (-7) over OAKLAND
The Patriots stayed out on the West Coast after beating Seattle last Sunday but that’s not necessarily a good thing. When they tried this ploy earlier in the season, they were beaten down handily by the Chargers. This is the Raiders though.

New York Giants (+3) at DALLAS
What a drama-filled game this one should be. Between T.O. complaining about the Romo-Witten relationship, to Jerry Jones calling out the injured Marion Barber to Demarcus Ware being 100% to Brandon Jacobs injury to the entire Plaxico situation. But really, shouldn’t the Giants, still the best team in the NFL be favoured? I would figure so.

PHILADELPHIA (-14) over Cleveland
This is the last time that we’ll see the Browns in prime-time this season, I promise. It’s about five games too late though. As the spread shows you, Cleveland is finished. With Brian Westbrook finally looking healthy and running well, the Browns have no hope. He’ll still probably show up on the injury report as questionable though.